RUDE AWAKENING- Dealership sold me wrecked truck with clean title?

When I traded my lexus in a few years back pretty much all of the dealer ship told me they only wanted to know if it's been in any major accident. They didn't care to know of it's been in a minor one.

 

Wrong. Hard to prove the damage wasn't After the vehicle was purchased. Not saying it was, but proof is a whole different ballgame. And since the buyer did not check or inspect Before purchase he hasn't a leg to stand on. The Carfax only reported Minor sheetmetal damage.

 

I don't understand all the chatter about 'clean title'. A vehicle can be damaged within a whisker of being totaled, and the title will never reflect anything. Ever.

And again, Carfax is GIGO. It's ok to look at. What you see is more than likely accurate. But you are clueless if its complete or not.

As far as diminished value, it bit a hunk when it drove off the lot. Assuming the vehicle is properly repaired (we still don't actually know what's wrong, other than what an alignment tech claimed) it's only diminished more if the OP choses to sell/trade now and someone cares about the accident report on CarFlax.

The actual value of the vehicle is what his insurance would pay if it was totaled. And they won't even blink at that report in making that decision.

If the OP runs the vehicle out to 10 years, 200k or so, none of this will matter anyway. It's just an old tired truck then, and whatever happened now doesn't diminish squat.

To the OP, #1 goal is to understand what is acutally wrong, if anything, and have that corrected so the vehicle is safe and properly serviceable. Hopefully the dealership will help you get there on their nickel, and you'll have a fine vehicle for the rest of the ride.

 

Not saying the dealer for sure didn't know but it is quite possible. There is no way a technician would notice a small tweak in a frame/slightly off door gap. If there was a serious bend or kink with poor repair work sure, but they are checking things like brakes, leaks, lights, etc. Dealers don't have frame rigs or anything to measure/adjust frames.
I could easily see a tech not noticing, especially if the damage was repaired fairly well. They are educated to check mechanical items not bodywork, that's a whole other area of expertise.
If the Carfax didn't report it until after you bought it, then they probably saw the same info you saw originally.

Or worse. A vehicle can be completely destroyed and still have a clean title if the person crashing didn't file an insurance claim or police file. Example, someone doesn't carry collision coverage and they roll into a ditch during a snowstorm on a back road, without injury. The next day they call a tow truck and have the rolled truck towed to a non-dealer shop where they get a new box, cab and front clip from donor vehicles. Done and done. Clean title and no carfax report of a crash.

 

I just reread OP's first post. To make sure I got this correct, there is no actual "problem" with the truck, correct? The only way this "frame was damaged" information came to light was because a tech got under there and noticed something weird? But the truck looks fine, drives fine, etc.?

Man, just drive it and forget about it. If it's nothing that you noticed before then it surely isn't an issue except in your mind. If you keep the truck long enough then whatever value you are assigning to this "damage" will be a wash anyway.

 

One mans Major is another mans Minor and vis-versa. All in how its stated.

 

Yes.
And if I was bothered enough by the truck, I would have went straight to the owner or GM and politicked and negotiated a deal for another truck. A brand new truck.
Done.
Go get me a seafood dinner. A few cold beers. And a cup of gumbo. Pass the hot sauce please.

 

This whole thread is pointless the OP has had the truck for a year and no proof whatsoever that it wasn't damaged after purchase.

 

But he has proof that it was damaged prior to purchase, hopefully some paper work stating it was in good enough condition to get marked as CPO, and maybe even a car history report from the dealer showing no wrecks.

That right there would be enough to make the dealership want to smash this before he goes singing to the local public about it. Threads like this have crushed dealers' images on other forums. All it takes is about 20 people to see he got hosed and start going around leaving bad feedback or ratings and the dealer will see the hit. A smart dealer would know the power of social media and would rather cough up a few thousand to make him satisfied, then risk losing future sales.

 

The only things the OP can sing about are speculation and have no facts to back them up.

 

Carfax stated minor sheet metal damage. And it didn't have this on the report until After the OP bought the truck.

So, No you are wrong.

 

Have you gone to the toyota care website, created an account and entered your vin? It will show ALL dealer performed repairs going back to the first owner prep. It is free and will only take a few minutes.

Report what you find. If the dealer did the body/frame work, it will show on the report.

You don't even need to own the vehicle, you just need the vin.

 

I only know of one reason why a person goes out and purchases a WAY overpriced vehicle and then claims there is something wrong with it a year or so down the road. Same reason there are "buy here, pay here" and "guaranteed credit approval" dealers that exist. Again, you've had the truck for over a year and never a problem until now? I suppose you'll tell us you also bought ocean front property in San Antonio, and now want money back because you just realized the ocean isn't near San Antonio after living there for a while. Kinda the same thing

 

Go to the website I gave you. Let's not start an argument. We want facts, that site has them if the work was done at the dealer.

 

Accident was reported on 7/26/13
Carfax posted on 2/04/15

Toyota Care Website:

07/17/2014 Dealer Red Mccombs Toyota 34,941 REPAIR SUBLETS
07/08/2014 Dealer Red Mccombs Toyota 34,941 REPAIR SUBLETS
01/02/2014 Dealer Cavender Toyota 29,193 COMPLIMENTARY EXTRA MILE
03/15/2013 Dealer Cavender Toyota 21,612 OIL AND FILTER CHANGE WITH TIRE REPAIR
11/30/2012 Dealer San Marcos Toyota 16,831 *** OPCODE NOT ON REPORT ***
11/07/2012 Dealer Universal Toyota 16,297 5,000 MILE SERVICE
09/18/2012 Dealer Red Mccombs Toyota 12,375 TPMS
08/10/2012 Dealer Red Mccombs Toyota 10,979 10K SVC FACT REC
05/02/2012 Dealer Universal Toyota 4,735 TRAC 5 K SERVICE
04/17/2012 Dealer Universal Toyota 3,249 SOUND SYSTEM

 

Very nice. Do those miles jive with when you bought it? Looks like some work was contracted out while at a dealer. Knowledge is power.

 

Yea miles are right. it's weird because with comparing with the carfax the sublets coincide with the vehicles certification. Tried to format this a bit. Doesn't prove much besides what i've been saying the whole thread unfortunately.

Carfax:
07/26/2013 Damage Report Accident reported
Vehicle involved in a sideswipe collision
with another motor vehicle
Minor left side damage reported
Minor right side damage reported
Airbags did not deploy
CARFAX began reporting this information on
02/04/2015.

Owner 2
Purchased: 2013
Type: Personal
Where: Texas
Est. length owned: (10 months)

Title issued or updated
New owner reported

01/02/2014 29,193 Cavender Toyota
San Antonio, TX
Oil and filter changed

06/30/2014 34,941 Red McCombs Toyota
Vehicle offered for sale

07/07/2014 Red McCombs Toyota
Predelivery
inspection completed
Air filter replaced
Cabin air filter replaced/cleaned
Oil and filter changed
Tires rotated
Wiper(s) replaced
Battery serviced
Battery/charging system/starter checked
Rear brakes serviced/adjusted
Tires rotated and balanced
Safety inspection completed
Trim checked

07/17/2014 Dealer Red Mccombs Toyota 34,941 REPAIR SUBLETS
07/08/2014 Dealer Red Mccombs Toyota 34,941 REPAIR SUBLETS


07/09/2014 Toyota Certified Dealer
San Antonio, TX
Offered for sale as a Toyota Certified PreOwned
Vehicle

07/25/2014 Toyota Certified Dealer
San Antonio, TX
Sold as a Toyota Certified Used Vehicle

 

Hmm so the accident was reported to carfax the very next day after toyota sold it?

 

nah accident was 2013. reported to carfax in 2015.

 

Oops bad reading comprehension last night